The Dare

It started with a dare. As I was talking to a friend (who has known me since High School) about our common love for books, Chris asked with a sly smile: "So, when are you going to write a novel?" 

I laughed. Of course I laughed. Who was I to think I could actually write a whole book, a thing of beauty that people might actually want to read?

She read my mind. "You don't need to write the great American novel. Stop putting pressure on yourself. Just write... a murder mystery!"

A murder mystery. I love murder mysteries, I read them to relax. I read really finely written murder mysteries that can easily be counted as "literature." But I also read the murder mysteries that are written quickly to keep a fan base reading, are far from great literature, but have a fun and engaging story. I read them, enjoy them, and two days later can't tell you the plot. Could I write one like this? Perhaps I could.

Soon after that "dare" I read about Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month). I signed up and by the end of November, I had 50,000 words written and the bulk of my novel "A Prayer for the Past."

That was 2010. Over the next year I finished and edited the book. I looked into getting a book published and discovered that if I wasn't famous, it was almost impossible to find an agent, much less a publisher. I then looked into self-publishing... which in 2011 was far more complicated than it is today. 

So the book sat in the files of my computer.

And I stopped writing creatively. I didn't really understand why until I read Madeleine L'Engle's comment: "Art is communication, and if there is no communication it is as though the work had been still-born" (Walking on Water). Yes. If no one would read my book, and finish the "conversation" that I had started, why should I keep writing?

This past summer I was able to take a creative sabbatical. Ten weeks to get the creative juices flowing again. I realized early on that I love to write creatively. But until I had done something with my murder mystery, I wouldn't be able to write again.

Thankfully in 2022 the world of self-publishing has changed. I took some of my sabbatical time, undated the mystery (my, has technology changed in 12 years!), and uploaded the book. It will launch on Amazon in mid October. 

It's not the great American novel. But I hope you enjoy it, finding it to be a "good read."